OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS — (October 7, 2021) — Dr. Tom Kettler, family physician, and Dr. Anne Kettler, dermatologist, of College Park Family Care, received the 2021 Frist Humanitarian Award, an HCA Healthcare Award of Distinction, at a recent ceremony in Nashville. The HCA Healthcare Award of Distinction celebrates one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers’ positive impact on patients, colleagues, and communities by recognizing extraordinary individuals who exemplify HCA Healthcare’s culture and values. The Frist Humanitarian Award recognizes the highest achievements in serving others.
The Frist Humanitarian Award, named in honor of HCA Healthcare co-founder Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr.
(1910-1998), was created in 1971 and is the longest standing award in HCA Healthcare’s history. The award honors individuals within HCA Healthcare who demonstrate a level of commitment and caring that goes beyond everyday acts of kindness, and who inspire colleagues with their compassion and dedication. In 2020, HCA Healthcare colleagues collectively volunteered more than 83,000 hours in their communities. The recipients of this award are examples of that volunteer spirit and the humanitarian principles established by HCA Healthcare’s founders.
“It is an honor for HCA Midwest Healthcare to have Dr. Tom Kettler and Dr. Anne Kettler receive the coveted Frist Humanitarian Award, which recognizes their tireless dedication to caregiving,” says HCA Midwest Health President and Chief Executive Officer M.L. Lagarde III. “The Kettlers’ servant hearts and selfless mindset epitomize the highest standards of quality and personal commitment to improving the life of others. Their leadership in mission work has touched lives not just in Kansas City, but on another continent.”
Together the Kettlers’ have impacted countless lives by delivering healthcare to underserved, underprivileged, and uninsured individuals through the Hope Family Care Center, a faith-based family medical practice providing high-quality family healthcare at 3027 Prospect Ave. in Kansas City, Missouri. They have also shared their compassion and medical expertise during multiple international medical mission trips to Kenya. During their 30-year span of mission work, the Kettlers’ have recruited other medical professionals and volunteers to become involved. They also helped found the Kitoben Children Vision Centre, an orphanage in Bomet, Kenya, near Tenwek Hospital where they have frequently volunteered. In 2001, Dr. Tom Kettler — in partnership with the founders of College Park Family Care — created the Missions Fund, which supports HCA Midwest Health colleagues’ participation in local and international medical mission efforts.
Dr. Tom Kettler is a founder of and has served as a physician at the Hope Family Care Center in partnership with The Hope Center, a community and youth development organization on Kansas City’s east side, cultivating an atmosphere in the clinic that allows both patients and practitioners alike know that they are loved and cared for.
“We are indeed proud of Dr. Tom Kettler and Dr. Anne Kettler’s passion for and remarkable work with the underserved in our community and the world,” says Overland Park Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Matt Sogard, FACHE. “Their actions and commitment are reflective of Dr. Frist’s ideals and values that HCA Healthcare was founded upon.”
“The tasks before Dr. Kettler require a herculean effort and he has given of himself to these tasks for over a decade,” says The Hope Center Executive Director Marvin Daniels. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ is a great descriptor for Tom, but I am glad to call him friend and co-laborer. I am always amazed at where I find him — serving at the Clinic or helping to paint a mural on one of the facilities of another non-profit, or an African American Baptist Church where I am preaching. Tom is authentic in personhood, committed to a divested community, invested in supporting non-profits like The Hope Center, and carries the conviction to help people live their very best lives.”
HCA Midwest Health is Kansas City’s leading healthcare provider and part of HCA Healthcare. College Park Family Care, which has more than 90 board-certified providers, including a wide range of specialists from obstetrics and orthopedic surgeons to dermatologists and dietitians and 10 easily accessible locations throughout Johnson County, is part of HCA Midwest Health.